All in Good Fun
by draggon-flye
Summary: Leigh McGee and Donny Palmer join in on the pranking tradition.
1. Chapter 1

Leigh had never thought of Autopsy as a busy place. In fact, it had always seemed pretty lonely to her. She wasn't scared of it. She was used to Uncle Jimmy and his guests, but it was only Uncle Jimmy down there all the time. Sometimes he had assistants, mostly kids coming through on a med school rotation, but they usually didn't last more than a few months. He hadn't had one really stick yet, like he had with Uncle Ducky.

So, she hadn't expected it to be so hard to wait for Autopsy to be empty. She and Donny had been waiting here for ages. They were doing homework at Uncle Jimmy's desk or at least that's what they were pretending to be doing. They were really waiting for Uncle Jimmy to leave, but he wasn't cooperating at all. He'd been glued to Autopsy all afternoon, almost as if he knew what they were planning somehow. She'd been tempted to pretend that her mom needed something just to get him to go away. That wouldn't work though. When he got upstairs, Mama wouldn't have anything for him, and everything would fall apart. They'd know something was up, and she'd get in deep trouble for lying.

This was supposed to be so simple. After all Daddy's and Uncle Tony's talk about pranks, she and Donny had decided they wanted to try one of their own. They'd batted around ideas forever. At first, it'd seemed like nothing would work. If it wasn't too babyish or just plain too stupid, it was something they knew they couldn't pull off without getting caught. Uncle Tony was a master prankster, and apparently, Daddy had been something of a prankster himself. Any old common prank just would not do. They needed something big, and they needed something good. Finally, they'd hit on the perfect way to prank Uncle Jimmy, if he would only go away so they could get on with it.

As if on cue, the phone rang. Leigh tensed, as she had for every phone call that had come through that afternoon. _Please__let__them__need__him__somewhere_, she thought. _Just__for__a__little__while,__it__won__'__t__take__long._

"They've come to get Cpl. Parkinson," Uncle Jimmy said, hanging up the phone and striding across to one of the compartments on the wall where his 'guests' stayed. He opened the door and slid out the metal tray where the corporal's body lay. Neither Donny nor Leigh took much notice. They'd both been in and out of here for years and were pretty much immune to the stereotypical squeamishness many people had about corpses. They both took the resident 'guests' in stride. Uncle Jimmy's current assistant, a dark-haired, gangly guy named Justin, brought over a gurney and body bag, and the two of them carefully moved Cpl. Parkinson's body into it. "We're going to escort him down," he said over his shoulder to Leigh and Donny. "You two stay put."

"We will," Donny said. He caught Leigh's eye, grinning. Leigh had to fight not to giggle. It was about time.

The minute the elevator door shut behind the adults. Leigh leapt to her feet. "Come on," she urged, pulling Donny from his chair and nearly causing him to trip over his own feet in the process. "We don't have much time."

By the time Donny had righted himself, Leigh had gotten a gurney and was pushing it toward one of the three currently occupied wall compartments. Donny opened it and slid out the drawer, revealing a body lying atop a clear plastic sheet. "Don't worry Chief Matheson," he said to the body. "We're just moving you to a new home for a little while. Nobody's going to bother you. We just want to play a little trick on my dad."

"Which we're going to get caught doing if you don't shut up and move," Leigh told him impatiently. She gripped her side of the plastic sheet and gestured irritably for Donny to do the same.

"I had to explain," Donny said, taking up his position and helping Leigh slide the body carefully onto the gurney. It was surprisingly heavy, but they were both used to physical activity since Leigh played soccer and Donny was accustomed to lugging around his bagpipes. They managed it easily enough. "You can't just go yanking them around like boxes," he went on. "They're people; it's disrespectful."

Leigh sighed, moving the gurney over to where they planned to relocate Chief Matheson. "I know. Been there, done that, got the lecture too. Just be respectful quickly, ok? I don't want to get caught."

"You think I do?" Donny replied, bringing over a second gurney. "My dad will kill me."

"And me with you," Leigh said. She gathered up the sheet and waited as Donny explained—quickly this time—to Pvt. Carpenter. "It'll be funny later, but I don't think it'll be funny if he catches us now."

"Nope," Donny agreed. They shifted Pvt. Carpenter onto the gurney and then into the compartment Chief Matheson had recently vacated. Then they shifted Chief Matheson into an empty compartment to the left of where Pvt. Carpenter had been. He grinned at Leigh, fizzing with laughter as they returned the gurneys back to their proper places. "He's gonna go nuts. He hates when things are out of place."

Leigh nodded. "It's gonna be hilarious." They scurried back to their places at the desk just before Uncle Jimmy and Justin emerged from the elevator.

Much to the shock of both Leigh and Donny, he didn't immediately return to work as they had expected. Instead, he filed the paperwork on Cpl. Parkinson, gathered his things, and prepared to leave.

"I thought you were going to work some more," Donny stammered. Leigh kicked him under the desk. Did he have to be so obvious?

Luckily, Uncle Jimmy didn't appear to notice. "There's nothing left but paperwork," he replied easily. "Let's see if we can't beat your mom home for a change." He came over and slipped an arm around Leigh's shoulders. "Come on, I'll walk you back to your mom."

Leigh didn't dare protest. As she said goodbye to Donny, the two exchanged a brief look of confusion and anxiety. What were they going to do now?


	2. Chapter 2

Leigh opened the messenger program window quietly, sighing with relief when she saw that Donny was also online. She was supposed to be doing research for her National History Day project, and neither of her parents would be happy with her if they found that she was chatting instead. They knew that she and Donny, and several of her other friends from school, often chatted online at night, and they were okay with that as long as she also got her school work done, and they knew she was talking to. Even though they wouldn't really care that she was talking to Donny, this conversation was one she didn't need them to know about. She clicked Donny's screen name and typed a quick hello then opened up an online encyclopedia in case Mama or Daddy came in to check on her.

'Hi,' Donny replied quickly, 'how'd you get away?'

'NHD,' Leigh said. 'It's due in a few weeks so I said I needed to work on it. What are we going to do?'

'IDK,' Donny sent back, 'but we have to do something. The prank's no fun if we can't see his reaction.'

'I know,' Leigh agreed. They both got quiet for a minute. Neither had any real suggestions. Leigh skimmed the encyclopedia article. She really had no idea what she wanted to do her project on. This year's theme was reform and revolution. Katie had taken one look at it and immediately decided to do her project on the Green Revolution and the environmentally friendly product movement. To Leigh's way of thinking that was lame in the extreme, but she hadn't come up with a better idea. She was coming up as empty on this stupid project as she was on figuring out how to see Uncle Jimmy's reaction to their prank.

'Dad's computer has a web cam,' Donny said after a moment. 'Do you think you could patch into it like your dad said he wished he could've done?'

'Hack into the security network of an armed federal agency then patch my way through the firewall and connect to the web cam of that specific computer? You don't ask much, do you?' Leigh replied.

'Sorry,' Donny said, 'I didn't think about it like that.'

'Besides, I already thought of that, but it didn't work. I'm good, but I'm not that good, ' Leigh went on. 'Katie's better,' she admitted grudgingly, 'but I already asked her, and she doesn't want anything to do with it.'

'Why not?' Donny asked.

'She played a prank on me and got in big trouble for it,' Leigh said. 'She only got in trouble because she took stuff out of Daddy's work bag.'

'Well of course she got in trouble for that,' Donny replied. After all, they were all very familiar with that rule, which applied equally in both their households. 'This is different.'

'I know,' Leigh agreed. 'I tried to tell her that, but she won't listen to me.'

'It's not like we're going to get caught,' Donny added.

'I know,' Leigh said again, 'but trust me, she doesn't want to hear that. She thinks we're both crazy.'

'She's such a stick in the mud sometimes,' Donny typed back. 'We're just having fun.'

'You know how she is,' Leigh responded. After a moment, she added, 'There are the security tapes.'

'Yeah, but how are we going to get to them? 'Donny said. 'Unless you think you can hack into them.'

'Not a chance,' Leigh told him. 'But there is Uncle Tony…'

'Uncle Tony?' Donny questioned.

'He'd probably help us,' Leigh said. 'He'd probably think it's funny. He might even want to see the security tapes himself.'

'Are you sure?' Donny pressed. 'He won't tell?'

'Not a chance,' Leigh assured him. 'It's just a prank, and he's done enough of them himself. I'll ask him tomorrow.'

'Ok, if you're sure,' Donny replied. 'I gotta go. Mom's calling. See you tomorrow.'

Leigh said a quick goodbye and signed off. Donny was almost as bad a worrywart as Katie. It would be fin**e.**

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><p><strong>AN:** National History Day is a real contest held each year for middle and high school students. I've used it here completely without permission.


	3. Interlude

Interlude for All in Good Fun

**A/N: **Sasha1600 decided I needed a 'missing scene' for this story so she wrote the following interlude. I'm posting it with her permission.

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><p>Justin swallowed hard. His heart was racing and his palms were sweating. Dr. Palmer would be back any minute.<p>

The ME had been furious when he'd found that his 'guests' were not where he'd left them. And it probably wasn't a good sign that he'd stormed out of Autopsy instead of continuing to rail at him.

Justin didn't have any idea how the bodies had ended up in the wrong drawers. But he was certain that he'd put them both back where they belonged, after Dr. Palmer had finished with them yesterday. Unfortunately, his boss didn't look like he believed him, when he'd protested his innocence. Which was why he was also fairly certain that he was going to get spanked for the mix-up.


	4. Chapter 3

Abby was reading the results of the tests she'd left running overnight and waiting on the rest of her babies to warm up when Palmer came stomping out of the elevator, ranting and clearly furious.

"I just can't understand it," he ranted. "Why would he do something like that?"

"Why would who do what?" Abby asked. "What's wrong, Jimmy?"

"Justin mixed up the bodies," he said. "When I got in this morning, Pvt. Carpenter had been put to bed in Chief Matheson's place, and the Chief was in the wrong place too. They're people, Abby. This is their resting place until we can get them home to their families. They deserve better than to be shoved into any random vault like chunks of wood."

Abby had to fight a smile. It was almost like having Ducky back in the lab with her again. The elder ME had expressed the same sentiment many times, and he had trained Jimmy well. "I know," she said soothingly, "but mistakes happen. It's an easy enough mistake to make. Have you talked to Justin?"

"That's the worst of it," Palmer replied, "when I asked Justin about it, he lied to my face. He swore he knew nothing about it."

"Are you sure he's lying?" Abby asked. "Maybe he really doesn't know. After all, why would he lie if it was just a mistake?"

"Who else would it be, Abs?" Jimmy asked. "There's no one else down there with us."

"Maybe someone came in after you left." Abby knew even as she said it how unlikely it was, but she liked Justin well enough and hated to think he'd lie to Jimmy like that.

"Who, the janitor?" Jimmy countered. "Sure, the janitor might move something on my desk but not a body. I don't like it any more than you do, but it's the only thing that makes sense. Justin got sloppy, and now he's lying."

"You can't just convict him without evidence, Jimmy," Abby insisted.

"What more evidence do you need?" Jimmy snapped, exasperated. "I told you. It's the only thing that makes sense. I'm just going to have to go and deal with him." He turned back toward the elevator, but Abby stopped him.

"Wait! I've got it." She rushed to her computer and began rapid fire typing. "We can look at the security tapes. Then, you'll know for sure. Even if you're right and it is Justin, at least you'll have proof."

"Of course," Jimmy agreed, "why didn't I think of that?" Years ago, when he had first come on as Dr. Mallard's assistant, after the debacle with Ari, the director had upgraded the security systems in all of the labs, including autopsy. With the tapes, he could know exactly what happened.

It only took a moment more of Abby's clicking and typing until she had the security tapes from the cameras in autopsy for yesterday afternoon up on the screen. They watched, skimming through quickly, as he completed the autopsies, and Justin put the man to bed in their proper places just as he had said. "Then what happened?" Jimmy asked, as much to himself as anyone. "How did they get moved?"

Abby shushed him impatiently. "Just watch."

They saw Jimmy and Justin leave, going down to meet the mortuary van, and then, to their complete shock, they watched Donny and Leigh, who had been working quietly at the desk, get up and move the bodies, laughing and giggling as if it were some kind of joke. Abby stopped the tape, and for a moment, they just stared at each other in silent shock.

"I just don't understand," Jimmy said finally. "Why would they do something like that? How could they be so disrespectful? Donny knows better."

"They both know better," Abby put in. "You've taught them both better. I don't know what's gotten into them, but it's not acceptable."

Jimmy ran his fingers through his hair, clearly angry and frustrated. "I can't believe it was my own child."

"And mine," Abby added. "Don't think Donny came up with this by himself. Leigh was clearly right in the middle of it."

"What are we going to do?" Jimmy asked.

"As far as I'm concerned, that's your call," Abby told him. "They were with you. Autopsy is your area. To me, that's no different than Leigh getting into trouble at your house." They had long ago agreed within the family that each of them had the right to discipline each other's children, as necessary. Leigh, Katie and Donny were all at times cared for by any or all of the team and had long since accepted them all as authority figures. The one difference was that Jimmy and Brenna, unlike the rest of the family, didn't use corporal punishment, but that had never been a problem.

Jimmy sighed. "Right now I could just shake them. What were they thinking?"

"Maybe they were just trying to play a joke on you or something?" Abby suggested gently. "Maybe they didn't mean any harm."

"Our guests are no joking matter, Abby," Jimmy insisted.

"I know," Abby assured him, "and I'm sure you'll make that very clear to the kids. I'm just saying maybe it was more of an error in judgment, just a mistake."

"I made a mistake of my own," Jimmy said quietly. "I need to apologize to Justin." He moved toward the elevator, and this time, Abby let him go.

"Tim's picking up the kids today," Abby told him as he left. "I'll make sure he sends Leigh down." She wouldn't want to be in Leigh's shoes when her Uncle Jimmy got hold of her though.


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Contains discussion of spanking of minor children. If this bothers you, leave now. If you choose to read anyway and it bothers you, Do Not complain to me. I gave you fair warning; the rest is both the choice and responsibility of the individual reader, not me.**

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><p>Leigh was practically vibrating with excitement when she stepped off of the elevator. It was all she could do to appear normal and not make anybody suspicious, especially not her daddy. She knew she had to be careful. Sometimes living with the family full of criminal investigators seriously sucked. On the other hand, that was what was going to make pulling off this prank so great. It wasn't exactly easy to get anything passed them. It made the very few times she did manage to get away with some kind of joke or trick even more awesome, and this prank was going to be epic. Not only had they pulled it off, they had managed to prank Uncle Jimmy in the middle of NCIS. She stepped off the elevator and headed for her dad's team area to toss her book bag before going off in search of Uncle Tony. If anyone would help her get hold of the security tapes it would be him. Either Mama or Daddy could access them quicker, but they were far less likely to see the humor in this situation. Uncle Tony would appreciate it for the epic prank it was.<p>

"Hey, Daddy, is Uncle Tony's team in the building today?" Her dad and her Uncle Tony hadn't been on the same team in ages, but they still generally kept up with each other. She was praying silently with all her might that Uncle Tony hadn't been called out on a major case. If that happened, there was no telling when he would be able to get the security tapes. That was a complication she hadn't counted on.

"I think so," her dad replied, "but before you go looking for him, Uncle Jimmy wants to see you."

"I'll go down in just a minute," Leigh said, trying desperately to sound casual despite the fact that her worry had just shot up into the stratosphere. "I want to find Donny anyway. I just need to tell Uncle Tony something first."

"It will have to wait," he insisted. "Uncle Jimmy needs to see you now."

"But Daddy, it'll only take a minute," Leigh protested. Now she really was worried. Why would Uncle Jimmy need to see her? Why would Daddy insist on it being immediately? Unless they had somehow found out… But how would they have found out? There was no way. They had no reason to suspect her. She was just being paranoid.

"Now, Leigh," her dad said in a tone of voice she knew from experience meant it was in her best interest to do whatever he said, immediately if not sooner.

She swung her book bag back up onto her shoulder. "Okay, I'm going, but if I'm going down anyway, I may as well take my homework. I'll either work on it with Donny or in Mama's office. It's too crowded up here."

"I thought you wanted to talk to Tony?" Tim questioned.

Leigh shrugged. "I'll talk to him later. It's not that important." That was a bald-faced lie, and she knew it, but she wasn't about to let him know just how important it was. Besides, maybe Mama would let her go find Uncle Tony without giving her the third degree.

The descent in the elevator seem to be over in the blink of an eye. She didn't even really have time to contemplate just why Uncle Jimmy would be looking for her before the doors open and she was stepping out in front of Autopsy. Donny was already there, sitting at Uncle Jimmy's desk. He shot her an apprehensive look as she came in the door. She lifted an eyebrow in question, and he shrugged. Clearly, he didn't have any better idea what this was about than she did.

"Hey, Uncle Jimmy, Daddy said you were looking for me?" Leigh prayed she sounded more casual than she felt. She was trying not to show it, but she was getting more and more worried. This was weird. Uncle Jimmy didn't answer her. Instead, he stepped around her and locked the door. Leigh barely contained a startled jerk. That was bad; that was very, very bad. There were only two reasons Uncle Jimmy ever locked that door. One was when he was conducting an infectious autopsy, which he clearly wasn't or he would not have allowed either her or Donny down here, and the second was when he had something to say that he did not want interrupted. That usually meant somebody was in trouble.

Without sparing her so much as a glance, her uncle crossed the room to his desk and took a sheath of papers from his desk. He crossed over to an empty autopsy table and spread them out. "Would either of you to care to explain this?" he asked quietly. He hadn't raised his voice. He almost never did, but the tone alone brought her to complete and focused attention.

Oh, crap. This was beyond bad. This was fast turning into nightmare status. It was only supposed to be a joke, a harmless prank. He wasn't supposed to get mad. They weren't supposed to get in trouble.

Neither Leigh nor Donny had moved. They were riveted to the spot, frantic. Neither one of them dared say anything.

"Answer me. Now."

The snapped command jolted them both into action, and they hurried toward the table where he had spread out the papers. Leah recognized them immediately with a growing sense of doom. They were security photos, taken from the same video she had been going to try to get Uncle Tony to let them see, and they clearly showed what she and Donny had done the day before. Uncle Jimmy glared at them – good grief, had he been taking lessons from Uncle Gibbs or something – waiting expectantly.

"Well, you see," Leigh began, shuffling.

"It was supposed to be a prank," Donny finished when she hesitated. Leigh fought the urge to bang her head against the table. Was he stupid? You didn't just blurt out things like that. You had to work your way up to it, ease your way around it so the adult's didn't go ballistic.

"A prank? You disturbed our guests and disrespected the sanctity of their deaths for a prank?" Uncle Jimmy exploded. "You should be ashamed of yourself, Donald James. There is nothing funny about treating people with such disrespect."

Donny dropped his head, blushing bright red. "Sorry dad. We didn't think of it like that. I did try to explain to them. We didn't just throw them around, Dad, really. We didn't mean to be disrespectful. I'm really sorry."

"Me too," Leigh spoke up quietly. "We really didn't mean it like that, Uncle Jimmy. It was just supposed to be funny, like what Daddy when did he moved the base commander's furniture."

"Furniture?" Jimmy echoed incredulously. "These are people. It doesn't matter if they're dead. They are still people. Don't you dare compare disturbing them to moving furniture, young lady."

Leigh sighed. This was just getting worse and worse. How had it all gone so wrong? "No, sir. I didn't mean it like that. I wouldn't say that, Uncle Jimmy. I know better, honest."

"Yes, you do," Jimmy said. "That's what disappoints me so much. You two do know better. If it was someone who hadn't been taught to respect the dead, I might understand them thinking it would be funny, but you two have been taught better. You had no business even considering it."

Leigh swallowed hard, staring at the floor. "Yes, sir, I'm sorry."

"You should be," Jimmy told her. "I'm at my wit's end with you two." He turned and pinned Donny with a hard look. "Especially you, given both your mom's and my job, you definitely know better."

"Yes, sir," Donny said quietly. He swallowed hard and risked a glance of up at his dad. "Am I grounded?"

"Oh, yes, you are very grounded. Both of you should consider yourself on complete lockdown for the next three weeks. You will go nowhere but home, school, and practice. There will be no phone, no electronics of any kind, including tv, and no computer except for what you need for schoolwork. Furthermore, you're going to spend some time this afternoon in time out in the corner, thinking about why it's important to respect the dead, and tonight you're going to write me an essay explaining what you decided. I'll expect them from both of you by tomorrow afternoon."

Donny groaned. "But Dad, we're too old for time out..."

"Not only are you most definitely not too old," Jimmy told him. "You should consider yourself lucky you are not standing in the corner with a sore backside."

Both children gaped at him in total shock. Donny went pale as a ghost. Spanking was common in their family. Both Uncle Gibbs and Leigh's parents had no qualms about using it whenever they felt it was needed, but Aunt Breena was totally against it so she and Uncle Jimmy didn't spank. Donny had never been spanked in his life. For Uncle Jimmy to say such a thing was beyond comprehension.

"But mom…" Donny stammered.

His dad held up a hand. "I know how your mother feels about it, son. That's why we've never done it, and why I promised years ago we never would. I've never once considered breaking that promise until today. That's how serious this is for me."

Donny bit his lip. Leigh thought he was trying not to cry. She couldn't blame him. She was pretty close to it herself. This was horrible. It was never supposed to be like this. They had never, ever meant to be disrespectful. It was supposed to be fun.

"I'm really sorry," Donny said quietly. "I didn't mean it like that. I just wasn't thinking."

"Me too, Uncle Jimmy," Leigh spoke up. "I never, ever meant to be disrespectful. Daddy and Uncle Tony were talking about pranks at Halloween, and we just wanted to try something. It was dumb, and we never should have involved your guests, but we really didn't mean to be disrespectful. We've never done something like that in a mean way. It was just stupid. I'm really, really sorry." She stopped, shifting from foot to foot awkwardly. "Um... I know you promised Aunt Breena, but Mama and Daddy wouldn't care. I mean, of course they care, but your my uncle. They've never minded with Uncle Gibbs or anything. I mean, I've kind of always known that any of the family can…"

"No, Leigh," Palmer broke in. "I'm not going to spank you either. You're right; neither of your parents would object, but it's not fair to punish you that way and not Donny. You did this together; you'll be punished together, equally."

Leigh nodded. "Yes, sir," she said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Both of you should be glad it's me you're dealing with and not your Uncle Ducky. Whatever I do, I can promise you, he would've been worse. I doubt either of you would have escaped without a spanking, Breena's feelings on the matter notwithstanding. Gibbs's team once 'borrowed' a body for an undercover operation, and he didn't stop ranting for days. I think he would have spanked them all if he could have, Gibbs included," Jimmy told them.

Leigh and Donny stared at him, aghast. It was bad enough to think of being spanked themselves, but the thought of anybody spanking grown-ups, especially Uncle Gibbs, was mind blowing. "Really?" Leigh asked.

Palmer nodded. "Absolutely. He was furious, and don't think he would've taken this anymore lightly."

That hit Donny hard, Leigh could tell. They were all proud of the people they were named after – her, Donny, and Katie – so for him to think that he would have disappointed and upset Uncle Ducky had to be really hard. She wasn't very proud of it either, but it had to be worse for Donny.

"We're really sorry," Leigh said again.

"I believe you," Jimmy told her, "but now it's time for you to think about why. Find a corner, both of you. I'll call you when you're done."

Leigh sighed but moved to obey without argument. There was no way she was getting into any more trouble now for talking back. She was in enough trouble as it was. She moved into the corner of the room on the opposite side of the drawers from Uncle Jimmy's desk, staring at the blank wall with her hands at her side. It was going to be a very long afternoon.


	6. Chapter 6

"This sucks," Leigh grumbled under her breath, searching through the overstuffed filing cabinet in Autopsy for the third time and scowling at the offending paper in her hand. Donny gaped at her, wide-eyed. "What?" She asked irritably. "It does." They had been filing and cleaning for days, her dad's files, her mom's lab, and now Autopsy. It wasn't unexpected. Extra chores were part and parcel of being grounded, but this was going on forever, and it was boring.

"I know that," Donny hissed, "but don't let my dad hear you say that or you'll be in even more trouble. You know he hates slang."

Leigh rolled her eyes. That, too, was risking a reprimand for disrespect, but she was facing the cabinet so the likelihood of Uncle Jimmy seeing her was slim to none. She had heard his whole slang rant before too, and in her opinion, not that anybody ever asked her opinion, that was just plain silly. Mama just shrugged and said Uncle Ducky had rubbed off on him whenever Leigh complained about it, but Leigh knew an excuse when she heard one. Sure, it was expected for Uncle Ducky to have been weird about stuff like that. He was ancient even before Leigh was born and from Scotland besides. Of course, he'd been weird about slang. Old people were like that, but Uncle Jimmy wasn't that old-he was younger than Mama and Daddy-and he was American. He was just being a stick in the mud.

"Are you trying to get in trouble?" Donny asked, eyeing her with disbelief.

" No, of course not," Leigh replied. "This is bad enough as it is."

"I know," Donny told her, "but you sure are pushing it. If Dad catches you complaining and rolling your eyes, he'll say you're being disrespectful, and you know how he is about that."

"Like my parents are any different," Leigh countered. "Besides, it's not disrespect, it's frustration. I'm sick of chores. I'm sick of being bored. I'm sick of being grounded. We've been grounded forever. It's not fair! What did we do that was so horrible? It was just a stupid prank."

"A bad one," Donny said. "It was a stupid idea, and it was disrespectful. We never should've tried it."

"I know that," Leigh told him. " I just don't understand why it was so bad that we are still grounded. It's going on and on. "Geez, even a spanking would be better than this."

Donny went wide-eyed. "Seriously?"

"Yes," Leigh replied irritably, "seriously."

"But wouldn't it hurt?" Donny stammered.

Leigh shot him a withering look. "Of course it would-probably bad-but then it would be over. At least it wouldn't go on like this. This is practically torture. Slave labor is illegal, you know."

"Is it?" Uncle Tony said, coming into the room with a sudden whoosh of the glass doors. "Tell that to your Uncle Gibbs, will you? Someone should have told him that years ago."

Leigh grinned up at him. "Why don't you tell him, Uncle Tony?"

"Me?" Tony echoed, feigning innocence. "No, I think you should. In fact, be sure I'm around when you do." He grinned, and they all laughed. "Come on. I've come to spring you. Your parents are stuck here for awhile. Your mom is home, Gremlin, so I'm supposed to drop you two and Katie there until Tim's team wraps for tonight since Abby and Jimmy need to be here too."

Both children nodded and began gathering up backpacks and school things, long used to this routine. The conversation quickly turned to new movies and Leigh's latest basketball game, all talk of punishment forgotten, but Leigh's words stayed with Donny for a long time after.


End file.
